A Plan For The Sba

WASHINGTON — Stephen Chapman (``Sending a signal to small business,`` March 13)

chastises NFIB President John Sloan for not embracing the administration`s plan to abolish the agency and creates the impression that the NFIB wants to save the Small Business Administration (SBA), regardless of cost.

The fact is, NFIB opposes the plan because it is a budget-buster in disguise. The inflated ``savings`` figures claimed by the Office of Management and Budget include more than $2 billion to be brought in by selling off the SBA loan portfolio at fire-sale prices--about 19 cents on the dollar.

However, the agency could recoup four times that amount simply by making no new direct loans and continuing to work existing accounts. This is but one recommendation in a detailed plan for reforming the SBA which NFIB made public on Jan. 3.

Had he asked, we would have been happy to tell Mr. Chapman why we oppose the administration`s plan and how we propose to achieve real savings by cutting SBA costs 60 percent immediately and, ultimately, transforming the agency into a user-financed service that costs taxpayers virtually nothing.